While the Barnes and Noble chain is often seen as the Walmart of the bookselling world, the benefits of having one in Tyler are innumerable. Even though B&N is far from a local business, it has become something of a social and cultural center here. Not only does the store boast thousands of titles for sale, but since its opening, countless musical presentations, author signings, and other events have taken place within its doors.

The Starbucks café has served as a meeting place for book clubs, chess players, church groups, and even the occasional college student cramming over a cup of Joe. Sometimes it’s a place for prearranged meetings, and sometimes it’s just a place to kill time. And who can resist wandering the book filled aisles looking for nothing in particular, but finding some volume we can’t live without.

On-line booksellers like Amazon.com or even Barnes&Noble.com and others are useful tools for locating those hard to find or out of print books. But they cannot replace the bookstore experience. It is one of the pleasures of life to sit on the floor and read the first couple chapters of a book before deciding whether or not to make the purchase. And unlike electronic books, a hard copy will never crash or freeze up.
 
The sympathies of a literary purest aside, the book store turns a tidy profit, both for the company and the community, and with a sizable staff employed there a certain amount of the dollars do stay in Tyler. So even though our neighbor B&N isn’t company headquarters, and its not a mom & pop style business it is nevertheless a staple of our local community, one we are fortunate to have.